Photo By Staff Sgt. Michael Crawford | A medic with the 210th Brigade Support Battalion treats a civilian role player's...... read more read more
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FORT POLK, La. – Thomas Edison once said, “I haven’t failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work.” As part of their warrior ethos, soldiers never accept defeat. In training, soldiers cannot be defeated if they learn from their mistakes.
During a simulated exercise at the Joint Readiness Training Center in Fort Polk, La., a bus struck a horse-drawn cart outside of Forward Operating Base Forge causing an explosion, alerting nearby soldiers. Blood-drenched civilian role players spilled out of the small bus onto the dirt road leading to the Forward Operating Base, screaming for help. The intent of the exercise was for soldiers to provide medical support to the civilian role-players involved in the crash.
“The initial team responded quickly,” said Capt. Nicklas Van Straaten, an observer coach/trainer at JRTC. “Once they heard the accident, they came up and started rendering initial care, but for some of the injuries it just wasn’t enough.”
After securing the crash site and providing as much first aid as the soldiers could muster, soldiers radioed their operations center for back up. Some casualties needed medevac onto the FOB if they were to survive.
“If they do it right, they’ll utilize their Afghan National Army counterparts and have them pulling security as well as treating the casualties and have the U.S. forces there for support,” said Capt. Nicole Spears, an observer coach/trainer at JRTC.
But the ANA never showed. Additional soldiers never showed. And then the unthinkable happened. The soldiers who responded left.
“We told them we had injuries and we were securing the area,” said Staff Sgt. James Little, of the 210th Brigade Support Battalion. “We were told to pull back.”
The role-players’ hysteric screams of pain turned to outrage as soldiers marched back to their entry control point. The role players who laid unconscious from their wounds bled out. For nearly half an hour, women cried and men shouted in anger, one even falling to his knees in prayer before the dead role-players.
Little, a native of Silver Spring, Md., and his soldiers continued to call for back up, watching as the role players grew more and more restless. But each time they called for back up, the response was the same: back up wouldn’t come until the area was secured.
Fed up with watching their friends die around them, the remaining role players marched toward the entry control point, kicking dirt and knocking over signs as they cursed the “American infidels.”
“What they’re portraying to the local nationals is that they want to move them out of the way so they can continue their normal missions, so it’s not establishing a good rapport with the locals,” said Van Straaten, a native of Tampa, Fla. “If they were on the fence, this could drive them from a yellow to a red status. If they were friendly with U.S. forces, this could drive them … to be on the fence. If they’re already red, it’s just going to make the atmosphere worse.”
Fortunately, soldiers come to JRTC to make such mistakes. While potentially catastrophic overseas, these hard-learned lessons ensure soldiers don’t make the same mistake twice. Proper communication, for instance, may have turned the scenario completely around. The operations center, ultimately responsible for sending the requested back up, didn’t have a clear picture of the crash site.
“What they failed to realize was there was a convoy waiting to come in, so the front of the entry control point was secured and the entry control point was secured with the personnel already there.” said Van Straaten. “There just seemed to be a lack of decision making at the operations center.”
Even without back up, the worst of the crisis could have been averted if the first responders had not left their post until properly relieved.
“The big take away is the interaction with the locals and working in a chaotic environment,” said Van Straaten. “The soldiers get the chance to work under pressure, and they’ve got to act without being told what to do.”
Soldiers’ basic skills can do wonders to avert catastrophe. Neglecting those skills, as the Soldiers learned outside FOB Forge, can have far-reaching consequences.
| Date Taken: | 03.26.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 03.27.2012 17:14 |
| Story ID: | 85857 |
| Location: | FORT POLK, LOUISIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 110 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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